Journal of Child and Family Studies (2019) 28:2187–2198https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-019-01483-9

ORIGINAL PAPER

Feasibility and Acceptability of the Mindfulness-Based OpenMind-Korea (OM-K) Preschool Program

Eunjin Kim 1● Monica M. Jackman2

● Seong-Hun Jo1 ● Jisun Oh3● Shi-Yong Ko1

● Carrie L. McPherson4●

Nirbhay N. Singh5

Published online: 1 June 2019© The Author(s) 2019

AbstractObjectives Preschool competency in self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsibledecision-making has been shown to affect short- and long-term social, emotional, and academic development. Knowncollectively as social emotional learning (SEL), these skills have begun to be paired with mindfulness-based programs(MBPs) in school settings. OpenMind (OM) is a newly developed mindfulness-based SEL program for preschool children.The aim of the present study was to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of the OM program translated, culturallycontextualized, and implemented as the OpenMind-Korea (OM-K) program in Korean preschools.Method Eleven teachers in three preschools in Korea were taught the basic philosophy, principles, and nine activities in theOM-K program. The teachers implemented the OM-K program, together with the Nuri Curriculum that is mandated in allKorean preschools, with 170 3- to 5-year-old children. Following implementation for a school year, 10 of the 11 teacherscompleted 34-item feasibility and 8-item acceptability questionnaires. In addition, they were individually interviewed ontheir views regarding the OM-K program.Results By the end of the year, each teacher was able to implement three or four activities of the OM-K program on a dailybasis and the remaining activities as much as possible. The teachers were able to modify the activities to suit the children’sneeds and as afforded by the space available in each classroom. Overall the teachers reported that it was feasible toimplement the OM-K program and that the program was acceptable to them. In addition, all teachers reported that theywould recommend the program to other teachers.Conclusions The OM-K program teachers in three Korean preschools rated the program as feasible and acceptable.However, there was some variation in the degree of feasibility and acceptability ratings across teachers within and betweenthe three preschools. All teachers uniformly reported that they would recommend the program to other teachers because ofits positive effects on both the teacher and their children. Program strengths and limitations are discussed and directions forfuture research are offered.

Keywords OpenMind (OM) program ● OM-K program ● Social emotional learning ● Mindfulness ● Preschool

There is increasing emphasis on self-regulation skills forchildren’s school readiness and adjustment when transi-tioning from preschool to kindergarten (Pianta and Cox1999). Children with good self-regulation skills are able tofocus their attention during class, increase academicengagement by following teacher directions, and inhibitdisruptive and aggressive behaviors at school (Blair andDiamond 2008). In addition, deficits in self-regulation skillsoften result in behavioral and social difficulties in preschoolthat may persist throughout the children’s school years(Gerstein et al. 2011; Olson et al. 2005). Research suggestsenhanced self-regulatory abilities in preschool may predictnot only literacy and math achievement during grades K to

* Eunjin Kimejkim2367@wku.ac.kr

1 Institute of Mind Humanities, Wonkwang University,Iksan, Republic of Korea

2 Little Lotus Therapy and Consulting, Port St. Lucie, FL, USA3 University of Seoul, Seoul, Republic of Korea4 McPherson Therapy and Consulting, Greenville, KY, USA5 Department of Psychiatry and Health Behavior, Medical College

of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, GA 30912, USA

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12 but also college completion (McClelland et al. 2012).This suggests that preschool may be the critical period forintervention to decrease or preempt the development ofbehavioral and social difficulties of young children, giventhe key role of emotion regulation in reducing behaviorproblems (Kam et al. 2004).

Many interventions for increasing self-regulatorybehaviors in preschool and K to 12 grades have largelybeen based on the Social Emotional Learning (SEL) fra-mework as identified by the Collaborative for Academic,Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL 2015). Theseinterventions have focused on some or all of the domainsor competency areas identified by CASEL, including self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relation-ship skills, and responsible decision-making. Meta-analyses and general reviews of research on SEL havesuggested that these domains are critical for promotingshort- and long-term development of social, emotional,and academic skills of children (Durlak et al. 2011;Durlak et al. 2015; Taylor et al. 2017). However, pro-grams directly or tangentially based on the SEL frame-work use various components and skills based on differenttheoretical constructs (Zins et al. 2004). For example, oneof the early programs—Promoting Alternative ThinkingStrategies (PATHS; Greenberg et al. 1995)—includesthree key components: emotion identification, relaxationstrategies, and perspective taking. The Social DecisionMaking/Problem Solving Program (Elias and Butler2005), on the other hand, focuses chiefly on a number ofsocial problem-solving strategies. In general, these pro-grams are designed to improve students’ emotional andbehavioral skills, decrease mental health problems, andenhance academic performance. Meta-analyses show thatthese programs do indeed report great benefits for studentsin areas specifically targeted by such programs (Durlaket al. 2011; Sklad et al. 2012; Taylor et al. 2017).

In addition to SEL competencies, there has been anemerging interest in implementing mindfulness-basedprograms (MBPs) in schools (for reviews and applica-tions, see Schonert-Reichl and Roeser 2016). Mindfulnesshas a long history as a meditation practice for awakeningas in the Buddhist tradition (Shonin et al. 2015), but in thecurrent context it has specific applications in enhancingacademic, social, and mental health of students (e.g.,Felver et al. 2016; McKeering and Hwang 2019; Zenneret al. 2014), as well as in teacher wellbeing (Hwang et al.2017). Mindfulness has been defined as the “awarenessthat emerges through paying attention on purpose, in thepresent moment, and nonjudgmentally to the unfolding ofexperience moment by moment (Kabat-Zinn 2003, p.145). MBPs in school settings have targeted a broad rangeof academic and psychosocial outcomes. For example,

reviews indicate improvements in cognitive performanceand resilience (Zenner et al. 2014), and reductions inbehavior problems, improvements in mental health (e.g.,anxiety, depression, and other affective disorders), and anincrease in executive functioning (Felver et al. 2016).Given the complementary nature of SEL and currentMBPs in education, a strong case can be advanced forintegrating these two approaches (e.g., Gueldner andFeuerborn 2016; Lawlor 2016).

Several MBPs have been manualized and introduced inschool settings. Examples include the Mind Up program(Hawn Foundation 2011), Move into Learning (Klatt et al.2013), and Learning to Breathe (Broderick 2013). How-ever, these and similar programs were not explicitlyintended to include the SEL competencies, although manydo include one or more components. For example, in amajor review of school-based MBPs that measured con-structs which overlap with SEL competencies, Feuerbornand Gueldner (2019) reported that although none of thepertinent 40 studies reviewed included all five SELcompetencies, all included one or more of these compe-tencies. For example, all 40 studies included examples ofself-management as an outcome variable. Of the self-management variables, the most common exemplarsincluded attention, concentration, positive and negativeaffect, various forms of anxiety, depression and sadness,and stress. Behavioral indices included anger, aggression,and problem behaviors as a general category. In terms ofthe other competencies, self-awareness and relationshipskills were reasonably well represented but substantiallyless than self-management. Responsible decision-makingand social awareness components were minimally repre-sented in these studies. These findings suggest that if atransdisciplinary approach (Stokols 2006) to providingquality education that combines MBPs and SEL compe-tencies is warranted, then new school-based programsshould develop MBPs that explicitly include the five SELcompetencies.

The aim of the present study is to assess the feasibilityand acceptability of a MBP that was designed explicitly toinclude all five components of CASEL’s (2015) SELcompetencies. The OpenMind (OM) is a mindfulness-basedSEL program for preschool 3- to 5-year-old children(Jackman 2016). The OM program is not intended toreplace existing preschool curricula but to enhance theteachers’ ability to provide quality preschool education thatis informed by mindfulness practices, thus reducing stressfor the teachers and increasing the children’s SEL in pre-paration for K through 12 education. The present studyprovides initial data on feasibility and acceptability of theOM program based on a translated version of the programand culturally contextualized for Korean preschool children.

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Method

Participants

Teachers and 170 children from three preschools partici-pated in the study. At each preschool, the classrooms weredivided by age—3-year-olds, 4-year-olds, and 5-year-olds.One of the preschools had two classes for 3-year-olds, 1 for4-year-olds, and 2 for 5-year-olds. The other two preschoolshad one class at each age level. In all, there were 11 classess(i.e., 4 for 3-year-olds, 3 for 4-year-olds, and 4 for 5-year-olds) and 11 female teachers. The mean age of the teacherswas 29.9 years (range= 25–40). The average class size was15.5 students (range= 13–20).

Procedure

Local preschool principals were invited to implement amindfulness-based SEL program in their preschools. Threepreschools (Preschool A, B, and C) were selected to parti-cipate in this program. The parents and teachers at the threepreschools were fully informed about the program and allprovided written consent for participation. The InstitutionalReview Board at Wonkwang University provided ethicalapproval for the research component of the OM-K program.

The 11 preschool teachers received training in the prin-ciples and implementation of the OM-K program at a one-day (8-h) workshop provided by two trainers with expertisein this program. Training was provided prior to imple-mentation of the OM-K program. Thereafter, every twoweeks, the teachers received further training on imple-menting the OM-K daily activities from a Korean researchertrained in the OM-K program and were provided anopportunity to share their experiences with fellow teachersduring the teacher education sessions. Additional trainingwas provided periodically, as needed, by a university pro-fessor trained in the program.

The OpenMind-Korea (OM-K) Program

The OpenMind (“OM”) is a mindfulness-based social-emotional learning program designed for teachers for usewith 3- to 5-year-old English-speaking preschool children(Jackman 2016). A revised version of the OM program wastranslated into Korean and made culturally appropriate forKorean preschool children (Jackman et al. 2017). TheKorean program, OpenMind-Korea (“OM-K”), includesnine daily practice activities that are integrated with thepreschool’s existing curriculum (i.e., Nuri Curriculum),with three activities (i.e., Samatha meditation, lovingkind-ness meditation, gratitude and interconnectedness practice)being used in the classroom on a daily basis and theremaining six activities (i.e., yoga, kindness and

compassion reporting, feelings finder, super me, are youpresent for me?, soles of the little feet) used as needed. Allactivities are practiced daily as much as possible for noti-cing and reinforcing positive and prosocial behaviors. Thenine daily activities include the five key SEL domains orcompetency areas as identified by CASEL (CASEL 2015).These domains include: self-awareness, self-management,social awareness, relationship skills, and responsibledecision-making.

Measures

Two questionnaires were developed to assess the feasibilityand acceptability of the OM-K program. At the end of the firstyear of implementing the OM-K program, the teacherscompleted both of these paper and pencil questionnairesindependently. In addition, the teachers were interviewedindividually to gather information on their personal observa-tions regarding the OM-K program and its implementation.

Feasibility

The feasibility questionnaire consisted of 34 questions thatevaluated different aspects of implementing the OM-Kprogram, including: meditation practice of the teachers;motivation to implement the program; issues regardingimplementation of specific activities; barriers to imple-mentation; integration of the OM-K program with the reg-ular preschool curriculum (i.e., the Nuri Curriculum); risksand benefits of the program; and administrative support forthe program.

Acceptability

The acceptability questionnaire consisted of eight itemsrated on a 5-point Likert scale: understanding the purposeand potential benefits of the OM-K program; ability tointegrate the program with the preschool Nuri Curriculum;confidence in their ability to implement the program; ben-eficial effects for the children; change in the classroomenvironment; whether the teacher would recommend theprogram to other preschool teachers, effects of the medita-tion practice, and the teacher being more present in theclassroom.

Personal interviews

The teachers were interviewed individually based on theirresponses to the two questionnaires to gather their personalobservations regarding the program and its implementation.Depending on the teachers’ responses, additional follow-upquestions were included to get a more comprehensiveunderstanding of their views.

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Data Analyses

Data were analyzed from only 10 of the 11 teachers whoimplemented the OM-K program because the eleventhteacher had taken a leave of absence due to pregnancy andchildbirth prior to completing the questionnaires and per-sonal interview. For the feasibility questionnaire, data wereanalyzed in terms of the teachers’ response to each item,coded, and categorized together with the follow-up personalinterviews. For the acceptability questionnaire, the ratingchoices ranged from “strongly disagree” (rated 1) to “neu-tral” (rated 3), to “strongly agree” (rated 5). The data werecollapsed into three meaningful categories: disagree; neu-tral; and agree.

Results

Feasibility

The data are presented in terms of the content areas andsummarized across the 10 teachers who completed thefeasibility questionnaire.

Meditation

The OM-K is a mindfulness-based program that includesmeditation as a prerequisite for its implementation. All 10teachers reported that they had learned how to meditate aspart of the OM-K program. In terms of average times acrossthe school year, one teacher reported meditating 5 min aday, eight for 10 min a day, and one for 15 min a day. Seventeachers were aware of the importance of their meditationpractice not only for themselves but also for the children.Thus, they meditated with the children each day both in theclassroom as well as outside in the playground, weatherpermitting. Five teachers said that they could practicemeditation much better by focusing on breathing. Before theOM-K, they thought that posture was important, so theyfocused on having a good posture but could not practicemeditation properly. After the OM-K meditation training,they learned that it was important to pay more attention tothe breath rather than posture, so they were able to practicemeditation easily and comfortably by following the flow ofthe breath.

Since meditation time is a time for me, I practicedmeditation together after I gave the children enoughexplanation. When I was in preschool, I had a routine tointeract with children all day long, then there is a time whenthe teacher becomes mentally distressed. There is a timewhen the teacher constantly observes that the children fightand argue with each other, since [we have had] meditationtime, the short meditation time, which is 10 min long is very

helpful to the teacher. Because the classrooms for 3-year-old children and older have no time for a nap, there is noquiet time except for cleaning time, so it is important tohave meditation time for teachers and children. When it is atough day and I do not have much meditation time, whenthe kids go home, I sit at the teacher’s desk and practicemeditation alone for a while before cleaning my classroom.(Teacher for 4-year-olds, Preschool C)

Before I was trained in the OM-K program, I thoughtmeditation was difficult and hard to practice and I did notthink about trying it. However, through OM-K training, Iuse it in my daily life knowing that a trivial thing frombreathing lightly to feeling one’s whole body can be med-itation. For example, living with children can make me bothangry and painful, and I cannot express my feelings directlyto the children, but hiding them does not make negativeemotions disappear. In that case, I usually solved the pro-blem by sighing in frustration, but through OM-K I thoughtthat it would be better to breathe rather than to heave a sigh,so after I breathe for a moment and meditate, I can talk tothe children comfortably. Breathing-oriented meditationseems to be the easiest way to be mindful in everyday life.From time to time, I practice meditation by myself in mydaily life by being aware of the flow of my breath,regardless of whether the children are present or not. Also, Ithought that I should set an example for the children, so Iwas be able to concentrate more on meditation during theguided meditation time with the children. (Teacher for 5-year-olds, Preschool B)

If the teachers were unable to meditate at the preschool,the reasons for this included outdoor events (six teachers),playful children (three teachers), school drop-off time (twoteachers), and noisy classroom environment (one teacher).The teachers were unable to meditate on days when anoutdoor program was scheduled because the childrenengaged in a different morning routine before they boardedthe bus for the outdoor activity. The teachers noted thatwhile they could arbitrarily adjust the time of regularclassroom activities, they could not do so for outdooractivities because cooperation of many people was required,including that of the bus driver. Also, the teachers reportedthat it was hard to practice meditation when playful childrenwere disruptive. In addition, because meditation was usuallyscheduled in the morning, class meditation had to be stop-ped sometimes when children arrived at the preschool atdifferent times, requiring the teacher to greet the children asthey arrived.

The teachers used a number of strategies to enhance dailymeditation practices, including setting a fixed time formeditation (four teachers), assistive tools, such as use of themeditation bell (four teachers), and paying attention to thebreath (two teachers). Other factors that helped maintainmeditation practice included children who performed well

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(one teacher), the praise and encouragement by theresearchers (one teacher), and the general atmosphere of thepreschool that emphasized character education rather thanacademics (one teacher). Furthermore, the school-wideguided meditation broadcast at 10:00 am was helpful inimplementing meditation practice each school day. Addi-tional meditation techniques (such as focusing attention onthe flow of the breath during inhalation and exhalation) andaccessories (such as use of the Hoberman ball and themeditation bell) enabled the teachers and children to prac-tice meditation more easily.

The preschool set the meditation time and broadcastedthe guided meditation, so I was able to connect with othermeditations in addition to the guided meditation at that time.(Teacher for 3-year-olds, Preschool B)

We used to practice sitting meditation in preschool everyday, but there were new methods in OM-K, such as theHoberman ball and Lotus Breathing, so we could learn andpractice meditation happily along with the children. In fact,when it comes to meditation, we used to focused on “makeyour posture upright”, “close your eyes” and so on, butOM-K puts emphasis on breathing, feeling the flow of thebreath. It was easy to explain and demonstrate to the chil-dren and they were able to follow this instruction very well.(Teacher for 4-year-olds, Preschool A)

At the preschool level, the school-wide broadcast indi-cated that it was time for the children to meditate, sonaturally it became a habit for adjusting the posture andattitude for meditation. Also, various meditation tools suchas the meditation bell and Hoberman ball were offered andutilized so that meditation could be conducted in a classformat. (Teacher for 5-year-olds, Preschool B)

Motivation

Eight teachers were highly motivated to implement the OM-K program in their classrooms after receiving training.Reasons for this included being interested in the OM-Kactivities (four teachers), confident about using the newmaterials (two teachers), liked the new meditation technique(one teacher), and applicability in daily classroom routine(one teacher). The remaining two teachers had a somewhatnegative attitude toward implementing the OM-K programbecause of questions regarding how to integrate the newactivities within the Nuri Curriculum given the educationaldemands of parents, and the diverse range of activitiesalready prescribed in the curriculum. Similarly, afterreceiving the OM-K training, eight teachers were positiveabout whether they thought they would be able to imple-ment the OM-K program, and two teachers expressed asense of burden. The reason the 8 teachers thought theycould incorporate it was because there was a teacher manual(three teachers), the program used interesting and easy tools

(three teachers), and did not seem too difficult to incorpo-rate with the Nuri Curriculum (two teachers). However, thetwo teachers who assumed it would be difficult to incor-porate the nine additional activities each day believed thatthey had not mastered the OM-K activities prior to beingasked to implement the program.

Implementation

Teachers responded that they could include three or fouractivities (six teachers), five activities (three teachers), andsix or seven activities (one teacher) out of the nine dailyactivities each day. The teachers engaged in and assistedtheir students to meditate each school day. In addition, theyengaged in several daily activities or variants of theremaining eight key OM-K activities, including Attention tothe Sound of the Bell (five teachers), LovingkindnessMeditation (four teachers), Yoga (four teachers), FeelingsFinder Board activity (three teachers), Gratitude and Inter-connectedness Practice (three teachers), Hoberman Breath-ing (three teachers), Super Me Board activity (twoteachers), Kindness and Compassion Reporting (one tea-cher), Birdie Breathing Song (one teacher), and WalkingMeditation (one teacher). The teachers reported finding thedaily meditation to be the easiest activity to perform. One ofthem responded, “Because I can start [it] with just my mind,without any special tools and preparation,” and two otherteachers said that because the meditation instruction was[audio] broadcasted at the preschool level every morning,they were getting used to doing it and were able to do itwithout difficulty. Also, the teachers noted that the childrenwere interested in tools and activities like the HobermanBreathing Ball (three teachers), attention to the sound of theBell (two teachers), Yoga, Lovingkindness Meditation,Birdie Breathing Song, and Feelings Finder Board (oneteacher).

Some teachers (six teachers) found yoga to be the mostchallenging activity to incorporate in their classrooms. Thiswas not due to the activity itself, but because the limitedspace available in each classroom made it difficult for thechildren to practice the yoga postures. Other activities thatwere challenging included the Super Me Board and Feel-ings Finder Board activities because the need to use themcould arise across different situations where it was incon-venient or the tool could not be easily accessed when nee-ded (two teachers). The Soles of the Little Feet and Are YouPresent for Me activities did not translate well culturally inthe Korean context and one teacher found them difficult toimplement.

In terms of practicality of the OM-K activities, five tea-chers used them often, three moderately, and two foundthem somewhat difficult. The teachers who reported usingthe activities frequently tried to integrate at least some

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activities within the general curriculum even if they couldnot integrate the activities well. The teachers who had dif-ficulty in integrating the OM-K activities reported that itwas difficult to combine them with the daily routines of thepreschool. With reference to modifying the activities to suittheir children and classroom environment, nine teacherswere able to do this, with the remaining teacher opting touse the activities as presented in the OM-K training manual.

Because the classroom and the restroom are separated, itcan get crowded if they go to the restroom as a group. So, Ilet the children go to the bathroom individually by sendingchildren who used different OM-K activities to managetheir behavior, such as a child who preferred to use aHoberman Breathing ball. In addition, children liked ani-mals and wanted to imitate them, so from the lion posture[in yoga] I could make various yoga postures such as tiger,crocodile, and bear for the children to use while waiting fortheir turn. (Teacher for 3-year-olds, Preschool A)

The children benefitted when I was able to modify theOM-K activities to suit my students. I was not only able towork on and plan the activities, but I was also able tomodify the existing programs and add activities to thembecause the children gave me good ideas regarding theirfeelings from participating in the Feelings Finder Boardactivity. When it came to using the Gratitude Flowers, thechildren freely transformed the flowers with colored paper,and on Super Me Board they used it first. In addition to theformal morning meditation sessions, my class was able topractice meditation outdoors (e.g., in the playground) aswell. If it was sunny, we could go outside and meditate onthe sound of nature. (Teacher for 4-year-olds, Preschool C)

With regard to the question, “If changes could be made tothe OM-K program to make it more feasible to implement itin your classroom, what changes would you suggest?”, fourteachers had no suggestions for change or additions to thecurrent program, but the other teachers suggested the devel-opment of a weekly educational plan (two teachers), devel-opment of a practical educational plan based on specificexamples (two teachers), and the development of additionalvariations of the activities (one teacher). Their responses werein the context of classroom applications rather than the OM-Kprogram itself. For example, one teacher suggested: “It wouldbe better to have a more systematic plan like an annual cur-riculum, a monthly curriculum, and a weekly curriculum,rather than leaving them at the [OM-K] teachers’ discretion.”Several teachers preferred carrying out chosen activities at aspecific time rather than to integrate the OM-K activitieswithin the preschool curriculum.

In response to the question, “By the end of the schoolyear if you were able to successfully implement the OM-KCurriculum in your classroom, what helped you to do it?”,the teachers provided multiple applicable answers as fol-lows: witnessing positive change in the children (four

teachers), encouragement by researchers (three teachers),regular teacher education (two teachers), meditation at afixed time (one teacher), preschool’s education policy(one teacher), teacher’s own awareness of the necessity ofmeditation (one teacher), and teacher’s decision not tostop implementing the program (one teacher). The tea-chers said that the change in the children encouraged themto do it for a year, although they were not sure that someof the children were making progress. The teachers notedthat they were able to continue with the OM-K programbecause they saw significant changes in the children. Inaddition, they noted that even if they had doubts (“Is thisright?”) while implementing the program, the praise andencouragement by the researchers provided great strengthand motivation for the teachers.

Initially, the program was operated under the teacher’ssupervision, and at some point, the children tried to solvetheir problems themselves (such as using Feelings FinderBoard when they were emotionally upset). In my class,children use the Feelings Finder Board a lot. Initially, whenthe children were fighting, I showed them how to use theFeelings Finder Board. Later, I sometimes saw how twochildren would sit down and use the Feelings Finder Boardto talk about what happened in the morning and attach theemotion keys to the board. So, I thought, “Oh, this hasbecome a tool that the children can use on their own.” Inaddition, when a child is emotional, sometimes a friendgives the Hoberman ball to him/her, saying, “Try this”,which enables the upset child to calm down. Also, I postedBirdie Breathing Song lyrics on the wall and, upon seeingit, some children sat down and did some of the movements.Looking at these changes in the children, I was able to bewith children in a stable and centered manner. (Teacher for5-year-olds, Preschool A)

It was a great help because there was a researcher whovisits [the preschool]. When my mind was unsettled, thevisit awakened me with “Oh, this should be done.” Also, Iwas able to tackle the programs specifically with teachereducation every two weeks. While asking questions andcommunicating, the program was much easier to proceed asthe teacher [i.e., trainer from the University] deepened myunderstanding of a particular program. I think the mostimportant thing is how much the teacher understands theprogram. (Teacher for 5-year-olds, Preschool B)

I did not do many activities, but I worked hard with theSamatha meditation. The reason is I felt that I needed thisactivity and the children kept following it. (Teacher for 5-year-olds, Preschool C)

Barriers to implementation

The teachers provided a range of answers to the question,“By the end of the school year, when you were not able to

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successfully implement the OM-K Curriculum in yourclassroom, what hindered you from doing it?”. The teachersnoted academic pressure of the Nuri Curriculum (threeteachers), unfocused children (three teachers), outdoorprograms (two teachers), teacher’s lack of competence (oneteacher), and no answer (one teacher). As a result of askingadditional questions about what the most disruptive factorwas, four teachers emphasized the time needed to imple-ment the Nuri Curriculum. Two other teachers noted thatthey have to show the results of using the Nuri Curriculumthrough completed worksheets of educational materialssuch as psychology art, play materials, and Korean lan-guage textbook. In addition, because they have to sendthese worksheets home with the children, they need to givepriority to the Nuri Curriculum. Given the reality of theKorean education system that is heavily focused on aca-demic achievement, parents are more interested in academiclearning outcomes than in the SEL emphasized by the OM-K program.

Because it is a class for preschool children which usesthe Nuri Curriculum, at times it was difficult to implementthe OM-K activities in such areas as science activities andstory-telling within the given time limit. (Teacher for 3-year-olds, Preschool A)

There was a specific daily routine so implementing OM-K was difficult because it was in addition to the NuriCurriculum. There were many things, such as field trips andother events, so it was hard to find extra time for OM-K. Ihave been working on the program for a year, but I think Icould have done better if I had to spend more time on OM-K and reduce Nuri Curriculum, which should show in theresults. At preschool level, I had to follow a private programtailored to Nuri Curriculum, which included daily basisactivities such as science experiments, reading selectedbooks [to the children], and linguistic activities. We neededoutcomes from these activities to send home with eachchild. Because I had to do these things, I could not spendmuch time on the OM-K program. (Teacher for 3-year-olds,Preschool B)

I teach children who are five years old, I had to focus onacademic learning so it seemed that I could not afford to doanything else. As the second semester began, it seemed thatthere were lots of things for the children to learn beforeentering the school so I had a lot of things to do and couldnot afford the time to do it. (Teacher for 5-year-olds,Preschool C)

In terms of what they did to overcome these barriers, theteachers indicated that they made an effort to somehowovercome them. In addition, one teacher said that “therewere no barriers” and another noted that “OM-K could notbe used with the outdoor programs”. The other eight whomade an effort to solve these problems offered the followingresponses: “Although there was a burden due to the Nuri

Curriculum, while using meditation, yoga, and so on withthe classroom activities, I could sense a change in theclassroom atmosphere” (three teachers). “Even though [Iwas] burdened by overwork and time constraints, I tried todo it by myself as their teacher” (three teachers). “As Iwatched the children changing little by little, I saw formyself the necessity of this program” (one teacher). “At theend of the large group period, I added OM-K activities”(one teacher). Although the teachers’ responses varied, allwere aware of the necessity for this program, and it moti-vated them to overcome the obstacles.

Integration

The teachers’ answers to the question “Were you able tointegrate the OM-K Curriculum with your standard (Nuri)curriculum?” were generally “yes” (seven teachers). Of theremaining three teachers, one was neutral and the final twoteachers said “no”. Factors that helped overcome the diffi-culty of integrating the OM-K program with the NuriCurriculum included: “Because there was a designatedmeditation time, I was able to engage in OM-K activitieseven for short periods”(two teachers); “setting up Mind-fulness Area” (two teachers), “implemented easy and simpleactivities like bell or Feelings Finder Board” (two teachers),“regular teacher education and researcher’s observation”(one teacher), “continuous study of the OM-K manual” (oneteacher), and “a combination of approaches,” (one teacher).The teachers used many different ways to incorporate theOM-K activities despite obstacles, such as lack of time, afocus on academic learning, and so on.

For example, when dealing with the topic of our neigh-borhood, I was able to combine Gratitude and Inter-connectedness Practice as we found out our neighbors whohelped us, and I tried bell activity and yoga posture as atransition between activities. (Teacher 1 for 3-year-olds,Preschool A)

There are activities in the OM-K program that can becombined by theme, so I tried to combine and implementthem. For example, when we were learning about me andmy family, I tried to express a heart of gratitude throughLovingkindness Meditation, and when we were learningabout our neighborhood, I was able to do Kindness andCompassion Reporting. (Teacher 2 for 3-year-olds,Preschool A)

Rather than fully integrating the OM-K program into theNuri Curriculum, the programs were introduced to childrenin small and large activities, such as leaving the building,language, art, and role-play activities in the weekly plan,and then I allowed the children to use them by themselvesduring free playtime. That is one of the reasons why I setaside the mindfulness area. (Teacher for 3-year-olds,Preschool C)

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In general, OM-K materials were kept in the free choiceactivity area to be used by the children, except that OM-Kactivities were introduced for a short period of 10 min aftermeditation. Although I felt that the burden of having to takeextra time to do the nine activities in the first OM-Kworkshop, when I actually tried it, it seemed that I couldproceed with interacting with the children in daily lifewithout taking time separately. (Teacher for 4-year-olds,Preschool B)

The manual was very helpful. I kept it in the classroom sothat I could study and grasp its core activities. During thelarge group activities in Nuri Curriculum, I used it in the formof a supplement. I think the teacher should continue to studythe OM-K manual. (Teacher for 4-year-olds, Preschool C)

Risks and benefits of using the OM-K program

The teachers were asked if they perceived any risks to thechildren due to participating in the OM-K program, all buttwo teachers responded that they did not. These two tea-chers assumed that the children could hurt themselves ifthey dropped the bell, so they did not let the children touchit (two teachers). With respect to the benefits of the OM-Kprogram, most teachers had similar responses. They notedthat the program resulted in stability of mind (seven tea-chers), increased expression of emotions (eight teachers),improvement in emotion recognition (three teachers), andenhanced good behavior (two teachers).

Typically it was difficult for the children to express theiremotions, but they learned to express them in various waysthrough the OM-K activities, and they were able to adjusttheir emotions in difficult situations by activitly working ontheir minds. I could see that the playful children becamecalmer as they practiced meditation and when a child cried,other friends came and told the child to “breathe”. Anotherexample, would be if a friend did not share a toy, the otherchild who was upset would bring the Feelings Finder Boardand express his or her emotions by attaching two sadexpression keys on the board. (Teacher for 3-year-olds,Preschool C)

When the children’s emotions became very strong whileplaying, the mind was stabilized by the meditation, and itwas found to become a little easier for the children to knowand express their mind through the Feelings Finder Board.Before that, the children did not reveal their mind well.When I let them watch the emotion cards and express theirminds along with them, at first, they were too shy to speaktheir minds well. Now, they naturally say, “Teacher, today Ifelt this way because of this,” and they expressed theiremotions with friends and they, who could not have said “Iam sorry,” before, said “I am sorry” and the other(s)respond saying “It is okay.” In this way, I could see that

they were changing because they could read others’ emo-tions. (Teacher for 4-year-olds, Preschool A)

I saw that a child meditated on his or her own when he orshe was not psychologically stable. Also, there was anunfocused boy, and his mother said that he was breathing athome when he was upset. I saw that he was breathing byhimself at the classroom as well when he was upset. (Tea-cher for 5-year-olds, Preschool C)

Administrative support

All of the teachers responded positively when asked abouthow much support they received from their preschool toimplement the OM-K program. They noted that participa-tion and encouragement by the researchers (six teachers),regular teacher education (2 teachers), and teachers’ work-shop (one teacher) were the biggest supports, indicating thatemotional support and encouragement rather than anymaterial support was what the teachers found most useful.They reported that their interactions with the researcherswere very positive and they gained courage from theirpraise and encouragement to implement the OM-K programvery comfortably. The teachers responded that they wereprovided with enough resources by the administration,including the bell (four teachers), Hoberman breathing ball(one teacher), the two Boards (one teacher), pictures of yogaposes (one teacher), various OM-K program materials (oneteacher), and preschool principal’s direction (one teacher).The OM-K program materials were very helpful in imple-menting the program and, in particular, both teachers andchildren used the bell. Also, one teacher mentioned thedirection of the preschool’s principal as the most helpfulresource for OM-K implementation, and she said that theprincipal and the preschool’s atmosphere emphasizedcharacter education so she could grant priority to OM-Kprogram activities.

The most helpful thing was the bell. At first, when thechildren were concentrating on their activities, they did notrecognize the sound of the bell. When they heard the bell,they just lowered their hands rather than lowering theirhands after the sound ended. However, after a while, thechildren heard the bell sound to the end, and then loweredtheir hands. They were concentrating on the sound. (Tea-cher for 4-year-olds, Preschool A)

OM-K is a program that the preschool considers to be apriority so I could implement it. When it was first started,the principal did not know about what OM-K program is,but the researchers continuously visited, talked, and praisedthe teachers, who were doing well with OM-K programactivities, so the principal began to take an interest in it aswell. Also, the preschool seems to have a good fit with OM-K program because it places a high value on [children’s]

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character and more focused on activities in nature. (Teacherfor 4-year-old, Preschool C)

Acceptability

The teachers’ acceptability ratings are presented in Fig. 1.The ratings show that all 10 teachers fully understood thepurpose and potential benefits of OM-K daily activities.While no teachers rated being confident of their ability toimplement the program activities, seven of the 10 teacherswere able to integrate the OM-K program within the

classroom activities, i.e. with the Nuri curriculum. Simi-larly, seven of the 10 teachers responded that the OM-Kprogram was beneficial for their children, and eight of the10 teachers noted that it helped to create a more peacefulclassroom environment. All teachers responded that theywould recommend the OM-K program to the other pre-schools or teachers, suggesting they saw a positive effect ofthe program on the children. Similarly, seven of the 10teachers noted positive effects of the meditation, and all 10teachers stated that the OM-K program enabled them to bemore present for the children in their classroom.

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Fig. 1 Teacher ratings of acceptability of the OM-K program

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Discussion

This study investigated whether implementation of the OM-K, a mindfulness-based SEL program for preschool chil-dren, was feasible and acceptable to Korean teachers andpreschool children. The OM-K is not a preschool curricu-lum but a mindfulness-based program that is used togetherwith the standard Nuri Curriculum prescribed for all Koreanpreschools. The key issue for the teachers in implementingthe OM-K program was whether they could incorporate theprogram activities within the Nuri Curriculum. OM-K wasdesigned to enable the teachers to use the activities in thecontext of the classroom rhythm of life, i.e., during play,academic lessons, transitions, and self-care activities such aseating and rest. The term rhythm of life refers to the use ofactivities in the naturalistic context of daily life when theneed or opportunity for a learning experience occurs. Forexample, a teacher may introduce discussion of emotionsand behavioral choices of characters during reading of abook to encourage lovingkindness practice and nonjudg-mental acceptance if she observes a child is being excludedby peers because he may look different or engages in uniquebehaviors.

Following training in the OM-K program activities, theteachers found the program to be interesting, the manualuseful, and the activity materials interesting and easy touse. In fact, the teachers indicated that they were able toimplement three or four activities following the initialtraining and continued using them throughout the year.The teachers found the activities fairly practical, and mostwere able to implement each activity in their classrooms.Given familiarity with the activities, the teachers wereable to customize the activities to suit the developmentaland cultural context of the children. All teachers were ableto guide their children in the daily meditations, an activitythat they reported to be the easiest to implement. Assistingthe children to meditate was made easier by having aguided meditation broadcast throughout the preschool at aregular time each day. Furthermore, unlike previousattempts which emphasized sitting meditation posture, theemphasis in this program on simply following the flow ofthe breath made it much easier for the teachers and theirchildren to meditate.

In terms of acceptability of the OM-K program, all tea-chers were positive about its purpose and benefits. Mostreported beneficial effects of the program, producing gen-eral calmness in the classrooms, without any risks to thechildren. All teachers uniformly reported that they wouldrecommend the program to other teachers because of itspositive effects on both the teacher and their children.Although there was variation across teachers, generally theteachers reported that implementation of the program wasfeasible and acceptable to them.

Strengths and Limitations

The OM-K program is unique in several respects. First, itwas developed to integrate a specific MBP with SELcompetencies, a noted deficit in school-based MBPs. Theprogram activities develop and/or strengthen the five SELcompetencies–self-awareness, self-management, socialawareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. Second, the program includes a customized school-wide guided meditation that is broadcast daily at a specifictime, thus enabling the teachers and children to anticipate itas a part of their daily routine. Consequently, the childrenwere able to meditate regularly on school days as a part oftheir morning activities, setting up the context for positiveinteractions and learning during the rest of the day. Dailypractice of meditation and the other OM-K activities helpsto create positive habits and build self-regulation andexecutive function skills in the children.

Third, the use of various visual aids that made the chil-dren more mindful made implementing the program easierfor the teachers. Examples of these aids include the“Hoberman breathing ball” for helping the children tobreathe, the “Gratitude Flowers” for encouraging the chil-dren to express their appreciation, the “Super Me Board’ forstrengthening peer interactions and friendly behaviors, andthe “Bell” for focusing attention. The provision of audio-visual materials at developmentally appropriate levels for 3to 5-year-olds added to the ease of implementing the pro-gram activities.

Fourth, the OM-K program integrates mindfulnessactivities into the daily preschool curriculum and hascomplementary principles that can improve mindfulness inboth teachers and children. Although the teachers wereinitially responsible for implementing the program, gradu-ally the children began using some program aids (e.g., theHoberman Breathing Ball, the Feelings Finder Board)without teacher directions. At this stage of implementingthe program, the teachers realized that this provided themwith an opportunity to practice meditation for their ownbenefit instead of focusing solely on teaching the childrenhow to meditate. We suspect the meditation aspect of theOM-K program appears to encourage the development ofmindfulness in both teachers and children.

The results are not without limitations. Although, by theend of the year, a majority of the teachers were able to use 4or 5 OM-K activities every day in their daily routine, someteachers had difficulty in integrating the activities due to thediverse daily routine of the preschool. In particular, the NuriCurriculum, a standardized national curriculum for Koreanchildren aged 3- to 5-years required a substantial investmentof the teachers’ time because expected academic outcomeshad to be met regardless of the addition of the OM-K programactivities. While this may not be a problem in western

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countries that emphasize SEL more so than academic out-comes in their preschools, the Korean educational system isvery sensitive to academic achievement. Therefore, the OM-Kprogram activities may need to be contextualized better forthe Korean educational system by providing the teachers witha plan for systematic implementation throughout the day.Giving the teachers the option of using program activities asthe need arises may not be an optimal implementation plan.For example, the OM-K program provides flexibility for theteacher but in order to help teachers in Korean preschools tointegrate more program activities into their daily curriculum,alternatives linked to weekly or monthly education plans maybe needed. Future research needs to assess how OM-K pro-gram activities can be incorporated into the Nuri Curriculum.

Another consideration arising from this study is the roleof the preschool principal in implementing the OM-K pro-gram. For example, the principal sets the tone for imple-menting new programs. If the principal emphasizesmindfulness of the children as a priority, the teachersinvariably follow the lead of the principal and do theirutmost to implement the program. Another consideration isthat university-based researchers may need to increase theirpresence in the preschools when a new program is intro-duced, thereby providing support to the principal, teachers,and parents through frequent interactions, information aboutthe new program, instruction on the components of theprogram, and positive reinforcement for each successivestep in the implementation of the program. Furthermore, byincreased presence in the early stages of implementing anew program, such as OM-K, researchers can collaboratewith the principal, teachers, and parents in solving problemsas they arise, modify the program components to fit theneeds of the teachers and children, and provide socialsupport.

Funding Information Preparation of this research was supported by aNational Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant (NRF-2010-361-A00008) funded by the Korean Government (MEST).

Author Contributions EK designed and executed the study, analyzedthe data, and wrote the paper; MMJ developed the OM program; SJtranslated the OM program into Korean and collaborated in itsimplementation; JO collaborated in the implementation of the pro-gram; SK enabled the implementation of the OM-K program andprovided research support; CLM provided initial training on the OM-Kprogram to the teachers; and NNS collaborated in all phases ofthe study.

Compliance with Ethical Standards

Conflict of Interest MMJ is the developer of the OM program. Theremaining authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval The Institutional Review Board at Wonkwang Uni-versity provided ethical approval for the research component of theOM-K program. All procedures performed in this study were in

accordance with the ethical standards of the 1964 Helsinki declarationand its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent Informed consent was obtained from the threepreschools, the parents, and assent from the children.

Publisher’s note: Springer Nature remains neutral with regard tojurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the CreativeCommons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use,distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you giveappropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide alink to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changeswere made.

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